Destructible container



April 15, 1941.

J. c. PEPPERS 2,238,821 DESTRUCTIBLE CONTAINER Filed March 5, 1938 Patented Apr. 15, 1941 U Ni-lT ED STAT E S PAT E N T O F Fl C E.

DESTRUCTIBLE CONTAINER Jerry C. Peppers, NewOrlea-ns, La.

Application March 5, 1938, Serial No. 194,192

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in containers, and although the disclosure suggests its use as a container for coffee, it is to be understood that this is not intended as a limitation, but merely as an illustration. In some sections of this country the practice has become rather no torious of refilling original containers with other and inferior materials after the original materials have once been consumed or otherwise used. This practice has led to an insanitary condition, from any one of several standpoints, notably, from the danger of spreading infection by repeated handling. Moreover, a purchaser of cofiee for example, wishes to be sure that the product is fresh and clean and comprises exactly what he had in mind when buying it at the counter. With this preamble in mind the objects of the invention are as follow:

First, to provide a container which is made in such a way that when the original purchaser opens it there will be such formation of the opening through which the product is abstracted as to make it impossible to put the container to further use without others detecting the fact that the container is not the original.

Second, to provide a container which is intended to be opened and have its contents emptied into a jar or the like, and then in most instances, thrown away.

Third, to provide a destructible container in a which the closure member and its connecting extension lip are in such a predetermined relationship to an edge of the container that when the pressure member is opened said edge will serve as a place whereat to bend the lip so as not only to turn the closure member out of the way, but also to hold it there while the contents are being abstracted through the resultin opening.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the destructible container.

Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of use.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the container with the closure member in an inverted position.

In carrying out the invention provision is made of a container generally designated l This contalner ordinarily consists of tin but it is not necessarily tin since it may comprise a card-board body with metal ends, but in every event its side 2 will have a closure member 3 and an extension lip 4.

.. tainer.

In the preferred form of the invention, the closure member is circular in form, and its integral extension lip 4 is rectangular. This extension lip is substantially square, as plainly shown in Fig. l.

The closure member and extension lip 3, 4, are formed by cutting, indenting or scoring the side wall 2 continuously to outline the configuration of the parts mentioned, with the exception of a place at the bridge 5 which is left unobstructed. In most instances the closure member and extension lip 3, 4, are defined by an actual through and through cutting of the substance of the side wall 2. Then in order to conceal the cut so as to guard against every possibility of the contents of the container losing its essence, the label 6 is pasted over the place where the closure member occurs. This label is supplemented with a legend reading To open out here as designated at I. This legend has an arrow 8 pointing to the bridge 5 so that all one has to do is to cut the bridge, lift the closure member and with that operation to tear the label 6.

It is important to note that the closure member 3 and its extension lip are located adjacent to the lower half of the container I. In other words, the extension lip 4 is situated close to the edge 9 of the container. The distance I0 is approximately the same as the length of the lip 4, the purpose and result of this arrangement being to enable an easy and uniform bending back of the closure member when the opening ll (Fig. 2) has been produced.

It is possible, of course, to tear out the whole closure member and its extension lip when the out has been made at the bridge 5. But in some instances it may be deemed convenient to tear down to and along the sides of the lip 4, leaving that portion 12 of the label intact across the extremity of the lip so that said portion acts as a hinge when bending back.

Now upon referring to Fig. 2, it is readily seen that when the closure member and extension lip are bent back as just stated, the line I3 which defines the last side of the boundary of the lip will coincide with the edge 9. Upon bending the closure member 3 downward (arrow) the crease which results at the line l3 will serve to keep the closure member down and out of the way of the hands of the user when inserting a spoon [4 through the opening II for removing the contents.

As far as refilling the container for a subsequent market use is concerned, the foregoing tearing obviously has totally destroyed said con- However, it is possible to bend the closure member and extension lip back, insert them keep in the package until it is desired to empty a it completely. As far as facility of bending the extension lip along the line I3 is concerned (Fig. 2) the principle of operation and the construction would be identical if the closure member were located in the top of the container instead of on the side. In such event the extension lip 4 would be located in the same relationship to the edge [5 as it is to the edge 9.

I claim:

A container having a cut directed crosswise of 1 a side thereof adjacent to one edge and parallel thereto, the extremities of said cut merging into parallel cuts perpendicular thereto and extending longitudinally of said side and forming a lip, said parallel cuts having mergence places with semicircularly continued cuts outlining a potentially swingable lid, the extremities of which cuts approach each other but stop in spaced relationship to leave an uncut bridge to initially secure said lid, the distance between said crosswise cut and said edge being approximately the same as the length of the parallel cuts to demarcate an eventual bending line across said mergence places so that the cap can be bent down to stay out of the way, and covering means applied in sealing relationship to the container over the various cuts and bridge and adapted to form a hinge at said lip on said crosswise cut.

JERRY C. PEPPERS. 

